Auntie Mame

[Lino]

A favourable review:

http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=3411& ... ID=18#tabs

And a not so favourable one:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=4901

[Michael]

Myra, I assume that you haven't seen Auntie Mame because no personal thoughts came from you.

I used to like Auntie Mame quite a bit years ago. It was a nice, colorful, comfy movie to pick up on nights when there was nothing to watch. But today I just couldn't bring myself to watching Auntie Mame. Over the years, it grows overlong and weary and its very "stagey" quality doesn't help. I agree with the "unfavourable" review.. here we have a film that's seemingly supposed to be a character study of one wildly bohemian woman (hence the title) ... but how did that woman fail to develop over the stretch of generations! It gets duller on repeated viewings at least for me but I know there are rabid fans of this film, like my partner for instance.

But on the positive note, it's really great to watch only for Rosalind Russell's one of kind, legendary performance.

[Matt]

Blasphemer! Anathema!

The appeal of Mame--nay, the whole bloody point of the character--is precisely that she never changes, never matures. Not even the Depression, widowhood, or becoming a "grandmother" tames her free spirit. Of course, in the book, this is a source of embarassment for Patrick. In the movie, it's seen more as something to be celebrated.

[tryavna]

I have to say that I agree wholeheartedly with Michael on this one. IMO, it's a film that hasn't stood the test of time very well.

[Lino]

Myra, I assume that you haven't seen Auntie Mame because no personal thoughts came from you.

You're assuming right. That's why I opened the thread, to see what others think of it because this film just won't leave me alone. It keeps staring at me, saying "watch me" and I just might, eventually. Apparently, Matt is a big fan.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Blasphemer! Anathema!

The appeal of Mame--nay, the whole bloody point of the character--is precisely that she never changes, never matures. Not even the Depression, widowhood, or becoming a "grandmother" tames her free spirit. Of course, in the book, this is a source of embarassment for Patrick. In the movie, it's seen more as something to be celebrated.

I would agree. The film still holds up to repeated viewings and has become something of a Christmas holiday tradition for me. I just dig the extravagance of the entire production and fall for Rosalind Russell's irrepressible peformance every single time. Not to mention's Mame's memorable credo, "Life's a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!" I always loved that line.

I also really enjoy the interplay between Mame and Patrick... for example when he is subjected to one of her cocktail parties and overhears all sorts of words and asks her to explain what "Libido, inferiority complex, stinko, blotto, free love, bathtub gin, monkey glands, Karl Marx... is he one of the Marx Brothers?" mean! heh. I love it.

I dunno, there is just something so charming and comforting about this movie. Hard to put into words, it's more of a feeling, I suppose.

[Matt]

I'm also a big, big fan of the colorful characters in the film who orbit around Mame, particularly Vera ("Oh, that moon is bright!") and Gooch ("I'll just fix myself a Dr. Pepper.") I'll admit that the film can feel stagebound (but I love trying to choose a favorite from Mame's decorating schemes) and that it is a trifle long (but what could you possibly cut?), but its charm and wit make up for a lot.

[Lino]

Since we're on the subject, what about Mame, the Lucille Ball's vehicle? Any fans around here? Have read wildly differing opinions of it...

[tavernier]

There's a revival of the stage musical Mame starring Christine Baranski currently at the Kennedy Center in Washington:

http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/ ... vent=TGTSB

Apparently, it may be headed to Broadway.

[Matt]

Since we're on the subject, what about Mame, the Lucille Ball's vehicle? Any fans around here? Have read wildly differing opinions of it...

It's diabolically awful (with the tiny exception of Bea Arthur, who's always good in anything). It should never be mentioned in the same breath as Auntie Mame. The musical itself isn't even that good to begin with. Jerry Herman is no Rogers and Hart.

But anybody, ANYBODY, would have been better in the role than Lucy. Shirley Booth! Ernest Borgnine! ANYBODY.

[tavernier]

But anybody, ANYBODY, would have been better in the role than Lucy. Shirley Booth! Ernest Borgnine! ANYBODY.

Christine Baranski?

[Matt]

I'm not the world's biggest Baranski fan, but she can carry a tune and she's at her best when going over the top. She's surely a better option than Cher and Bette Midler, who have both been rumored to star in the threatened TV musical version. Or Patti Lupone, for Chrissakes.

I'd rather there be a dozen shitty versions of the musical than a single remake of the 1958 film.

[Lino]

My first time out with Auntie Mame today and guys, let me tell you -- we had a ball!

That old gal still has it! Can you really keep track with her new hair color or apartment decoration styles? She'll always be ahead of us all, inebriating us with her amazing joie-de-vivre and quick tongue (just don't ask her to repeat that long business firm's name where she worked as a telephone operator!).

And who could imagine that Gooch did have a bust? Hilarious woman. Both of them, actually. And poor Patrick Dennis, what would have become of him had he not been rescued from the "drabness" (or should I say "bleakness" -- drab is such a... drab word... or is it?) of his little life by his dear old auntie? Lucky him, I guess. And lucky us for having met her.

Yes, today I have lived, lived, lived! Thank you Mame and thanks for being always the same -- wonderful, high-spirited, eccentric, loving, genuine.

By the way, she and Henry Iggins would have made quite the pair!

[justeleblanc]

But anybody, ANYBODY, would have been better in the role than Lucy. Shirley Booth! Ernest Borgnine! ANYBODY.

Christine Baranski?

She was great in the KC production of Sweeney Todd, and she's been in a bunch of other shows here and there.

[Matt]

The only watchable version of Lucille Ball's Mame.

[Lino]

The only watchable version of Lucille Ball's Mame.

Don't you just love people with lots of time on their hands that they can come up with such an inspired piece of film editing? Brilliant stuff. Thanks for the link, Matty.

[Matt]

The only watchable version of Lucille Ball's Mame.

Don't you just love people with lots of time on their hands that they can come up with such an inspired piece of film editing? Brilliant stuff. Thanks for the link, Matty.

You should watch the other stuff that guy has put together. It's all pretty good (though the one with Jane "The Thumb" Wyman is awfully bizarre).

[Michael]

Auntie Mame's still kicking alive!

[Matt]

Auntie Mame's still kicking alive!

Yes, I imagine if they exhumed Rosalind Russell's corpse, that's about how it would look. Advance warning for anyone else thinking of clicking that link: turn your computer speakers waaaaay down.